There is a frighteningly deep gap between what social consumers want and what social marketers think they want. This is what an infographic, released yesterday, created by social media specialist Brian Solis in cooperation with the Pivot Conference team and Barnickel Design shows.

Here are some of the key learnings:

76% of marketers feel they know what their customers want, yet only 34% have actually asked.

In return for their social engagement with brands, 83% of consumers expect deals/promos and 58% expect exclusive content. However, social marketers think consumers see customer service (59%) as the biggest benefit.

45% of marketers think rewards programs are important to customers, yet an entire 70% of social consumers expect this as a benefit.

Social consumers and social marketers agree on product feedback, however. 55% of consumers see the ability of giving feedback on new products as a benefit and 53% of marketers think this is what they expect.

The Perceptions Gap is a very important learning, and this divide between marketers and consumers is something that marketers really should take into consideration. Is your brand really listening to what your consumers want? A little self-scrutiny never hurts.

If there is one piece of information you should retain from this infographic, it is that you must ask your consumers what they want, listen to their responses and take the feedback into account. Ask sincere questions about things that you are actually interested in knowing and the feedback you get from your community will hence be very valuable.